Tag Archives: Alma Whitten

After three years on the job, Google’s first ever Director of Privacy is stepping down. Alma Whitten rode out a tumultuous period which saw several high profile privacy snafus, not least of which has become known as the WiFi drive-by data grab.

Changing-of-the-guard in the office of chief privacy honcho presents a rare opportunity for Google. One wonders if Lawrence You will seize the moment…

Google has a privacy option that could propel them onto the moral high ground. A nascent science offers a way for Mr. You to radically demonstrate indisputable proof of respect for users. Unlike other potential announcements, policies or technologies, this one protects user privacy completely—while continuing to profitably direct data from marketing partners. In fact, it won’t interfere with revenues across all services, including Search, Docs, and all aspects of Android and Chrome.

Lawrence You: Reason to keep smiling.

What could possibly anonymize individual user data while preserving individual benefits? I refer to Blind Signaling and Response. It is new enough that no major services incorporate the technique. That’s not surprising, because the math is still being worked out with help from a few universities. But with the resources and clout of the Internet juggernaut, Google needn’t wait until upstarts incorporate provable privacy and respect into every packet of data that flies across the ether.

What is Blind Signaling and Response? You’re Google! Google it and go to the source. You’ve once brought the inventor to Mountain View. My 2¢: Get the project in house and grow it like a weed. When PMs & directors, like Brad Bender, Anne Toth, Stephan Somogyi and Andrew Swerdlow get religion, the tailwind will grease a path toward roll out—and well deserved bragging rights.

A bit of Irony: Venture Beat says that Whitten is leaving the “hardest job in the world” and that Lawrence You will lose his smile as he takes the reins. Nonsense! With a technical solution to privacy, the world’s hardest job will transform into one of education and taking the credit. Ultimately, it will be the prestige job that commands respect.

Perhaps just as important, Blind Signaling and Response will gut the Bing Scroogled campaign, like a stake through the heart. With Google pioneering user respect, the Scroogled campaign will turn from clever FUD into a colossal waste of cash.

Disclosure: Ellery Davies is very keen on the potential for BSR and want’s very much to pull his favorite service provider along for the ride.